The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
